Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 60: Plasmonics and Nanooptics: Fabrication, Characterization and Applications I

O 60.2: Talk

Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 10:45–11:00, H8

Investigation of lithiated carbon as active plasmonic material system — •Valentin Maile, Mario Hentschel, and Harald Giessen — 4th Physics Institute, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Active plasmonic structures are integral to recent advancements in optical technologies due to their ability to confine and manipulate light on the nanoscale, enabling the miniaturization of optical devices. A pivotal aspect of future devices is the switchability and tunability of their optical resonances. However, only very few material systems can intrinsically switch the ability of the individual resonator to support plasmonic resonances via a metal-to-insulator transition.

Here, we introduce a novel concept based on lithium-intercalated carbon, a material system widely studied in battery research. The electrically driven, reversible lithium intercalation in the carbon lattice leads to an increase in charge carrier density and a corresponding shift in the optical material properties, visibly changing its color from black to golden. This unique optical modulation demonstrates its potential for integrating dynamic plasmonic functionalities.

In this work, lithiated forms of carbon and their change in optical reflectance are investigated as a switchable material system for plasmonics. Furthermore, we explored multiple fabrication techniques for nanostructuring the material, demonstrating that the nanostructures can be electrically switched while maintaining their structural integrity. This approach promises to expand the toolkit of active plasmonic structures for metasurfaces and nano-optics.

Keywords: graphite; switchable material system; lithium intercalation